Search

As of November 17, 2021, SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2), the causative agent of COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 19), has infected ~250 million people worldwide, causing around five million deaths. Titers of anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies were relatively stable for at least 9 months in a population-based study conducted in Wuhan, China, both in symptomatic and in asymptomatic individuals. In the mass screening campaign conducted in the town of Ariano Irpino (Avellino, Italy) in May, 2020, 5.7% (95% CI: 5.3-6-1) of the 13,444 asymptomatic citizens screened were positive for anti-nucleocapsid antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Among these, 422 citizens were re-tested for anti SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in January, 2021 and/or in April, 2021 and enrolled in this longitudinal observational study. Median (interquartile range) age of the study cohort was 46 years (29–59), with 47 (11.1%) participants of minor age, while 217 (51.4%) participants were females. There was no evidence of re-infection in any of the subjects included. Presence of anti-nuclear antibodies antibodies (Elecysis, Roche) was reported in 95.7 and 93.7% of evaluable participants in January and April, 2021. Multiple logistic regression analysis used to explore associations between age, sex and seroprevalence showed that adults vs. minors had significantly lower odds of having anti-S1 antibodies (Biorad) both in January, 2021 and in April, 2021. Our findings showed that antibodies remained detectable at least 11.5 months after infection in >90% of never symptomatic cases. Further investigation is required to establish duration of immunity against SARS-CoV-2.

Background: This study was carried out to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a Southern Italian population. Methods: The study was performed among students and workers of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” and the relative Teaching Hospital. Participants were invited to undergo a blood sampling, an interview or to complete a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A total of 140 participants (5.8%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Positive SARS-CoV-2 test results increased significantly during the months of testing, and those who had had at least one symptom among fever, cough, dyspnea, loss of taste or smell and who had had contact with a family member/cohabitant with confirmed COVID-19 were more likely to test positive. Faculty members were less likely to have a positive test result compared to the healthcare workers (HCWs). Among HCWs, physicians showed the lowest rate of seroconversion (5.2%) compared to nurses (8.9%) and other categories (10%). Nurses and other HCWs compared to the physicians, those who had had at least one symptom among fever, cough, dyspnea, loss of taste or smell, and who had had contact with a family member/cohabitant with confirmed COVID-19 were more likely to test positive. Conclusions: The results have demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection is rapidly spreading even in Southern Italy and confirm the substantial role of seroprevalence studies for the assessment of SARS-CoV-2 infection circulation and potential for further spreading.

Paratuberculosis is a chronic enteric disease affecting virtually all ruminants, but only anecdotal information is currently available about the occurrence of this disease in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). We carried out a survey study aimed at determining the prevalence of paratuberculosis in 2 provinces in the region of Campania, Italy, where about half of all Italian buffaloes are reared. From May 2017 to December 2018, we collected 201,175 individual serum samples from 995 buffalo herds. The sera were collected from animals over 24 mo old and were tested using a commercial ELISA test. The herd-level apparent prevalence result was 54.7%, and the animal-level apparent prevalence was 1.8%. The herd-level true prevalence was estimated using a Bayesian approach, demonstrating a high herd-level prevalence of paratuberculosis in water buffaloes from the Campania area. These findings suggest that the urgent adoption of paratuberculosis herd-control programs for water buffaloes in this area would be beneficial.

Background. High-resolution estimates of HIV burden across space and time provide an important tool for tracking and monitoring the progress of prevention and control efforts and assist with improving the precision and efficiency of targeting efforts. We aimed to assess HIV incidence and HIV mortality for all second-level administrative units across sub-Saharan Africa. Methods. In this modelling study, we developed a framework that used the geographically specific HIV prevalence data collected in seroprevalence surveys and antenatal care clinics to train a model that estimates HIV incidence and mortality among individuals aged 15–49 years. We used a model-based geostatistical framework to estimate HIV prevalence at the second administrative level in 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa for 2000–18 and sought data on the number of individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) by second-level administrative unit. We then modified the Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) to use these HIV prevalence and treatment estimates to estimate HIV incidence and mortality by second-level administrative unit. Findings. The estimates suggest substantial variation in HIV incidence and mortality rates both between and within countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with 15 countries having a ten-times or greater difference in estimated HIV incidence between the second-level administrative units with the lowest and highest estimated incidence levels. Across all 44 countries in 2018, HIV incidence ranged from 2·8 (95% uncertainty interval 2·1–3·8) in Mauritania to 1585·9 (1369·4–1824·8) cases per 100 000 people in Lesotho and HIV mortality ranged from 0·8 (0·7–0·9) in Mauritania to 676·5 (513·6–888·0) deaths per 100 000 people in Lesotho. Variation in both incidence and mortality was substantially greater at the subnational level than at the national level and the highest estimated rates were accordingly higher. Among second-level administrative units, Guijá District, Gaza Province, Mozambique, had the highest estimated HIV incidence (4661·7 [2544·8–8120·3]) cases per 100 000 people in 2018 and Inhassunge District, Zambezia Province, Mozambique, had the highest estimated HIV mortality rate (1163·0 [679·0–1866·8]) deaths per 100 000 people. Further, the rate of reduction in HIV incidence and mortality from 2000 to 2018, as well as the ratio of new infections to the number of people living with HIV was highly variable. Although most second-level administrative units had declines in the number of new cases (3316 [81·1%] of 4087 units) and number of deaths (3325 [81·4%]), nearly all appeared well short of the targeted 75% reduction in new cases and deaths between 2010 and 2020. Interpretation. Our estimates suggest that most second-level administrative units in sub-Saharan Africa are falling short of the targeted 75% reduction in new cases and deaths by 2020, which is further compounded by substantial within-country variability. These estimates will help decision makers and programme implementers expand access to ART and better target health resources to higher burden subnational areas. This work was primarily supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (grant OPP1132415). Additionally, O Adetokunboh acknowledges the support of the Department of Science and Innovation, and National Research Foundation of South Africa. M Ausloos, A Pana, and C Herteliu are partially supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (Romania; project number PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0084). T W Bärnighausen was supported by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through the Alexander von Humboldt Professor award, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. M J Bockarie is supported by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership. F Carvalho and E Fernandes acknowledge support from Portuguese national funds (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior; UIDB/info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB/50006/2020/PT, UIDB/04378/2020, and UIDP/04378/2020. K Deribe is supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant 201900/Z/16/Z) as part of his International Intermediate Fellowship. B-F Hwang was partially supported by China Medical University (CMU107-Z-04), Taichung, Taiwan. M Jakovljevic acknowledges support of the Serbia Ministry of Education Science and Technological Development (grant OI 175 014). M N Khan acknowledges the support of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Bangladesh. Y J Kim was supported by the Research Management Centre, Xiamen University Malaysia, Malaysia, (XMUMRF/2020-C6/ITCM/0004). K Krishnan is supported by University Grants Commission Centre of Advanced Study, (CAS II), awarded to the Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. M Kumar would like to acknowledge National Institutes of Health and Fogarty International Cente (K43TW010716). I Landires is a member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigación, which is supported by the Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, Panama. W Mendoza is a program analyst in population and development at the UN Population Fund Country Office in Peru, which does not necessarily endorse this study. M Phetole received institutional support from the Grants, Innovation and Product Development Unit, South African Medical Research Council. O Odukoya acknowledges support from the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health (K43TW010704). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the US National Institutes of Health. O Oladimeji is grateful for the support from Walter Sisulu University, Eastern Cape, South Africa, the University of Botswana, Botswana, and the University of Technology of Durban, Durban, South Africa. J R Padubidri acknowledges support from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India. G C Patton is supported by an Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council research fellowship. P Rathi acknowledges Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal India. A I Ribeiro was supported by National Funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, under the programme of Stimulus of Scientific Employment–Individual Support (info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/CEEC IND 2018/CEECIND/02386/2018/CP1538/CT0001/PT). A M Samy acknowledges the support of the Egyptian Fulbright Mission Program. F Sha was supported by the Shenzhen Social Science Fund (SZ2020C015) and the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (KQTD20190929172835662). A Sheikh is supported by Health Data Research UK. N Taveira acknowledges partial funding by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal, and Aga Khan Development Network—Portugal Collaborative Research Network in Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa (332821690), and by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (RIA2016MC-1615). C S Wiysonge is supported by the South African Medical Research Council. Y Zhang was supported by the Science and Technology Research Project of Hubei Provincial Department of Education (Q20201104) and Open Fund Project of Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Occupational Hazard Identification and Control (OHIC2020Y01).

BACKGROUND: The Milan metropolitan area in Northern Italy was among the most severely hit by the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. The aim of this study was to examine the seroprevalence trends of SARS-CoV-2 in healthy asymptomatic adults, and the risk factors and laboratory correlates of positive tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a random sample of blood donors, who were asymptomatic at the time of evaluation, at the beginning of the first phase (February 24th to April 8th 2020; n=789). Presence of IgM/IgG antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2-Nucleocapsid protein was assessed by a lateral flow immunoassay. RESULTS: The test had a 100/98.3 sensitivity/specificity (n=32/120 positive/negative controls, respectively), and the IgG test was validated in a subset by an independent ELISA against the Spike protein (n=34, p45 years (p=0.002). DISCUSSION: SARS-CoV-2 infection was already circulating in Milan at the start of the outbreak. The pattern of IgM/IgG reactivity was influenced by age: IgM was more frequently detected in participants aged >45 years. By the end of April, 2.4-9.0% of healthy adults had evidence of seroconversion.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a common herpesvirus that may cause asymptomatic infection or various diseases, such as mononucleosis, lymphoproliferative disorders and several cancers. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of EBV among patients hospitalized in “Luigi Vanvitelli” University Hospital in the last 10 years. Our results showed that EBV seroprevalence in our geographical area was 65%. Seroprevalence increased gradually with age with no significant difference between females (49.42%) and males (50.58%). The seropositivity for primary infection was higher in patients about 5 years old, while seropositivity for past infection was predominant in patients of about 35 years old. These results underline that children in our country are still exposed to EBV. The development and the deeper use of an EBV vaccine in the early years of life could represent the solution for this infection.

This study aimed at establishing baseline key epidemiological parameters for varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection in Vojvodina, Serbia, with the ultimate goal to quantify the VZV transmission potential in the population. Seroprevalence data generated during the first large cross-sectional VZV serosurvey were modelled, using a two-tiered modelling approach to calculate age-specific forces of infection (FOI), the basic reproduction number (R0) and herd immunity threshold (H). Seroprevalence and modelling data were compared with corresponding pre-vaccination epidemiological parameters from 11 countries participating in the European Sero-Epidemiology Network 2 (ESEN2) project. Serbia fits into the general dynamic VZV transmission patterns in Europe in the pre-vaccine era, with estimated R0 = 4.12, (95% CI: 2.69-7.07) and H = 0.76 (95% CI: 0.63-0.86). The highest VZV transmission occurs among preschool children, as evidenced by the estimation of the highest FOI (0.22, 95% CI: 0.11-0.34) in the 0.5-4 age group, with a peak FOI of 0.25 at 2.23 years. Seroprevalence was consistently lower in 5-14 year-olds, resulting in considerable shares of VZV-susceptible adolescents (7.3%), and young adults (6%), resembling the situation in a minority of European countries. The obtained key epidemiological parameters showed most intense VZV transmission in preschool children aged

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a member of the genus Hepevirus within the family Hepeviridae. Hepatitis E is recognized as a zoonosis, and swine and wild boars (Sus scrofa) are known reservoirs of HEV infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of HEV in wild boars and hunters exposed to infection in central Italy (Latium region). During the hunting season, blood samples were collected from 228 wild boars and 20 hunters. The seroprevalence of HEV infection was determined using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, previously validated for use in man, pigs and wild boars. The estimated HEV seroprevalence in wild boars and in hunters was 40.7% (93/228; 95% confidence interval [CI] 34.4-47.1%) and 25% (5/20; 95% CI 6.1-43.9%), respectively. Liver samples were collected from the boars and HEV RNA was detected by nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Fifty-five of 164 tested wild boar liver samples (33.5%; 95% CI 26.2-40.7%) and three of 20 (15.0%; 95% CI 1.3-28.7%) tested human serum samples were positive for HEV RNA. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences obtained from PCR products indicated that the HEV strains present in wild boars and the human population all belonged to genotype 3, supporting the zoonotic role of wild boars in the spread of HEV infection. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Screening of undocumented migrants or refugees for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections has been offered free of charge and free from bureaucratic procedures since 2012 at four primary-level clinical centres in Naples and Caserta, Italy. Of 926 undocumented migrants and refugees visiting one of the primary-level clinical centres from January 2012 to June 2013, 882 (95%) were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), total hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) and antibodies against HCV and HIV. Of the 882 individuals enrolled, 78 (9%) were HBsAg positive, 35 (4%) anti-HCV positive and 11 (1%) anti-HIV positive (single infections); seven (1%) had more than one infection (three were HBsAg positive). Of the 801 HBsAg-negative patients, 373 (47%) were anti-HBc positive. The HBsAg-positivity rate was high (14%; 62/444) in individuals from sub-Saharan Africa and intermediate in those from eastern Europe (6%; 12/198), northern Africa (2%; 2/80) and Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (the ‘India-Pakistan area’) (3%; 4/126). Anti-HCV was detected in 9/126 (7%) individuals originating from the India-Pakistan area, in 12/198 (6%) from eastern Europe, in 17/444 (4%) from sub-Saharan and in 2/80 (2%) from northern Africa. The HBV, HCV and HIV infections in the undocumented migrants and refugees screened serve as a reminder to the Italian healthcare authorities to carry out extensive screening and educational programmes for these populations.

Eight Italian Regions have begun offering vaccination against varicella to children aged 13-15 months, with a second dose at 5-6 years of age. A serosurvey was conducted to evaluate the impact of extensive vaccination in these "pilot" Regions.

We evaluated 1336 hepatitis B surface antigen-positive subjects consecutively observed in 79 Italian hospitals over a 6-month period. The proportion of hepatitis B e antigen-negative cases was 86.4%, that of patients coinfected with hepatitis D virus was 9.7%, and the rate of patients coinfected with hepatitis C virus was 16.8%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age >49 years, alcohol abuse, and anti-hepatitis D virus and anti-hepatitis C virus positivity were independent predictors of progression to liver cirrhosis. © 2007 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.